Intensive communication with India on gurudwara shooting: US

The United States is having an ongoing and intensive communication with India on the Wisconsin gurudwara shootout that killed six people, a senior administration official said.

"Obviously our communication is ongoing and intensive. We have good lines of communication with the Indians and discuss matters such as these," the State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell, told the media at his daily news conference.

Ventrall remarks came hours after the US President Barack Obama spoke with the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to express his sympathy and condolences for those killed in the shooting incident.

A day earlier, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke with the External Affairs Minister S M Krishna. White House and State Department officials have spoken to the Indian Ambassador to the US Nirupama Rao on a regular basis.

"The secretary did have a chance to talk to her counterpart to convey her heartfelt condolences to him and the greater Sikh community both in the United States and India," he said.

The US and India both strongly share the values of freedom of religion and freedom of worship, and respecting and protecting all faiths.

"So that's definitely a message that the secretary conveyed. Our officials at the ambassadorial level continue to be in contact as necessary so that we can facilitate communication," Ventrell said.

"Obviously, our role as the Department of State can be in a facilitative role to make sure that our state and local authorities and our national law enforcement authorities are in touch with their Indian counterparts, to the extent that it's necessary. So we provide that facilitative role," he said in response to a question.